


Cathexis

by juliannarayvenne



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-01
Updated: 2015-12-01
Packaged: 2018-05-04 06:36:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5324159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juliannarayvenne/pseuds/juliannarayvenne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU starting after Thor the Dark World. Does not include anything from the Avengers Age of Ultron or Captain America the Winter Soldier.<br/>I own nothing but the OC Ella. All hail the Gods of Marvel! I'm just here to play!</p><p>A strange woman helps Loki find himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Lessons

She watched from the shadows as the prisoner spoke to director Fury. She listened intently to him speak to the director after the 'ant-boot' speech.

"Well let me know if 'real power wants a magazine or something." Fury said as he was leaving the chamber, leaving the prisoner alone in the round glass cell.

She watched Loki shake his head and smile broadly as he watched the director of SHIELD leave. The he settled himself on the small bench inside the glass and steel prison.

No one knew she was there. She wasn't supposed to be there really. But after the tesseract had destroyed the facility where she had been staying, they had no choice but to bring her along for the ride. Although Coulson had expressly forbid her to leave her quarters while this mission was active, no one had paid her much attention as she crept around the heli-carrier. She was a SHIELD asset nothing more than that. It's not like she would ever be one of the AVENGERS or even a field agent. She was something they studied, something they tried to use to their advantage, so she rarely listened when given orders. She tried her best to listen to the advice of her one friend, Phil Coulson, but this was just too interesting to stay away.

SHEILD was not quite aware of all her abilities yet, and some things she had deliberately hidden from them. It was the not knowing what she was capable of that made all of them, including the counsel nervous. She was not sure herself where her abilities had come from, why she could do the things she could do or even the extent of her abilities, which is why she was here, lurking in the shadows.

Loki's abilities were quite similar to her own in many ways, though he had had several centuries to perfect what he could do. Gabriella watched him from her hiding spot, making every attempt to shield her presence from his keen senses. She was curious about him, why could she do some of the same things that this God of Mischief could do? She desperately wanted to talk to him, but knew that it wasn't as easy as walking up to him and asking him to reveal all so she could better understand herself.

Ella took a deep breath and concentrated on opening up her mind and feeling for the energy of the Asgardian. Once she felt his energy she pushed the tendrils of her own energy a little further attempting to probe gently at his mind without making him aware of her presence. Ella gasped in surprise as she touched lightly on Loki's subconscious. He was not alone in his own mind. There was another darker presence there with him and Ella pulled back slightly, forgetting her concealment efforts for a fraction of a second.

"Who is there?" Loki asked not bothering to look up from the floor or move in anyway.

Ella didn't answer him, instead she pushed her magic at him again, trying to get a better look into the Asgardian's mind.

"Show yourself to me." Loki demanded in a low sardonic voice.

Ella attempted to conceal herself even further in the shadows pushing her back against the hard steel of the heli-carrier wall. She could feel the cold of the metal and the vibration of the engine pulsating through her body like another gigantic heart beat. Then she felt the prickle of magic, not her own. Loki was trying to find her.

She tried to shield herself the best she could but she knew her magic was no match for Loki. If he wanted to find her, she would be found.

For the first time since his capture, Loki used his magic in an attempt to find the human he knew was there, lurking about in the shadows. It didn't take much of his extensive stores of power to locate her and it was a female he was surprised to learn. He heard a small gasp from the shadows to his left and he knew that his power had reached her. She seemed very small and fragile, nothing for him to concern himself with. He flipped his left hand in a small gesture, knowing the small amount of magic that would jolt her would send her running. Then she would be gone and he could be alone with his thoughts.

Ella attempted to hide the pain from the jolt of magic Loki had directed at her. "Be gone you foolish girl," she heard him mutter as the electric feel of the current began to intensify.  
She closed her eyes and concentrated on trying to prevent his much stronger magic from penetrating her.

"ENOUGH!" She whispered forcefully when she realized that she could not shield herself from him. "Enough."

She heard Loki laugh from within the cell. "You have much to learn human. But you will not live long enough. Even if your life were not about to come to an abrupt end, your life span is much too short to even attempt to match my power, now leave me."

Ella felt his magic leave her and she let out a long breath she was unaware she had been holding. There was a strange feeling inside her, like some of his energy was still there, holding onto her. It was a very peculiar vibrating feeling. Slowly, she regained her equilibrium enough so that she was finally able to move again without vomiting. She felt more than a little disappointed. All she had learned was that Loki was not alone in his own mind and it seemed the shadow that resided within him had more control and far more power than even Loki himself. She was still no closer to understanding her own abilities and there was no way she was going to attempt to make contact with Loki again.

Feeling defeated yet again, Ella pushed herself away from the wall, not bothering to conceal herself from Loki as she made her way back to her room.

Loki watched her go from his prison. She looked to be no more than a child, but the magic she had used against him told him she was more than she appeared. Perhaps he would attempt to spare her when all was said and done and use her for a bit of amusement.


	2. Chapter 2 Tolerance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU starting after Thor the Dark World. Does not include anything from the Avengers Age of Ultron or Captain America the Winter Soldier.  
> I own nothing but the OC Ella. All hail the Gods of Marvel! I'm just here to play!
> 
> Gabriella and Stark square off!

________________________________________  
Chapter 2: Chapter 2 Tolerance  
________________________________________  
Chapter 2 Tolerance

1 year later…

Gabriella sat in one of the empty chairs facing Tony Stark's bar, watching him pour scotch into a crystal glass and listening to him go on and on with Pepper about the re-appearance of Agent Phil Coulson, one of SHEILDs top agents believed to have been killed by Loki's "glow stick of destiny" right before the battle for New York.

"So you're not happy that Phil's alive?" Pepper asked, sounding disapproving of his attitude.

"I'm ecstatic he's alive," Tony replied sarcastically." I just hate not knowing. I like to know Pepper. I like to know. SHEILD treats us like life sized action figures when they need us then the next thing you know I have to babysit Fury's little side kick for a few months because they have no idea what to do with her and are scared to death of what she may do to them. No offence Muffin." Stark didn't even look at Ella when he halfheartedly apologized.

Pepper turned red with embarrassment, glancing quickly at Ella. "I am so sorry," she said her cheeks still burning. "He's just being an ass. He doesn't mean it."

"Yes he does," Ella replied, looking quickly at Stark. "And I asked you not to call me muffin." The amber liquid in Starks glass burst into flames as he attempted to take a drink.

Tony threw the glass into the sink with a curse. "You know, if you keep using magic outside of school, you will be expelled from Hogwarts. Is Harmonie better than Muffin? Can I please call you Harmonie?" He watched her face flood with anger.

"It's not like being here has been a blast for me either, Stark," Ella spat feeling the anger get the better of her. She tried to use emotional control when it came to dealing with Stark, but he had a way of goading her into rising to the occasion whenever he wanted a conflict." You are SO not easy to deal with. And could you please for the love of all that is holy STOP treating me like I'm twelve years old. I have two degrees and I happen to be a lot older than I look! The only reason I have to be here is because those fucking asshats at SHEILD are too afraid I may use my abilities for something that isn't sanctioned by them."

"You're absolutely right," Stark replied, sarcasm still dripping from his tone. "I am sorry I forget your not actually twelve. It's hard to remember things like that when you bear such a keen resemblance to one of the lollipop kids."

"Fuck you Stark!"

"Snappy come back, you write your own material?"

"My own material?" Ella sneered at him, really getting into the put downs now. "Your metal suits… those are all just extensions of your tiny…"

"Oh My God you two, that's enough!" Pepper shouted at the two of them. "Just stop it both of you!"

"I'm going to work off some of this anger. I need to go in the gym and put your picture on that punching bag and beat the shit out of it." Ella said jumping down from the stool, trying to make every inch of her frame appear taller than it actually was.

"Sorry," Tony replied, trying to raise his voice louder as she walked away so he could be heard. "I put the stuff up… really, really high."

Pepper put her hand over his mouth trying to keep him from talking. "You two are like brother and sister. Why do you do that to her?"

"It's fun," Tony replied, resting his hands on Peppers hips. "And she always falls for it. Makes my life interesting."

"It makes my life hell having to live with the two of you," Pepper replied leaning in to kiss him gently on the lips. "Give it a rest for the rest of today ok?"

"Yes, Mom. I'll try," he said trying to sound sweet and sincere. "She just irritates me, she wants to know about her abilities, so I try to really get in there and help her figure things out and she shuts down and won't talk to me when I ask her questions."

"Maybe she just doesn't know." Pepper sighed moving away from Stark to look him in the eye. Just promise me you will TRY to play a little nicer with her.

"Scouts honor," he replied, putting up his fingers in the Vulcan greeting instead of the boy scout pledge.

Ella stared at herself in the mirror of the work out/training room in Stark tower. She was sweaty from her time on the stair climber and the kick boxing she had been doing with the work out dummy. Now it was time for the real work out. She looked over her reflection. Ok, she was short, at just shy of 5 feet tall and MAYBE 110 pounds on a good day with all of her clothes on, she did resemble a teenager rather than a full grown adult. However, she was incredibly smart, fast in movement and ability and she was learning more about her powers every day.

She opened her hand and watched in the mirror as the door behind her opened. She closed her hand and door closed too. Then she began to push her magic further calling it from deep within her core and projecting it out from herself. Next to her, the air began to shimmer and an exact replica of herself began to take shape. It was almost corporeal when it began to fizzle and fade. DAMN IT! Ella spat at her reflection. You're weak! She bent forward, putting her hands on her knees and trying to catch her breath. It was almost as taxing as the hour on the elliptical had been. It was so easy for Loki to make many replications of himself and here she was struggling with just one. This was the one talent that still eluded her. She had been able to do all of the cool little parlor tricks like setting Starks liquor on fire and other small things like that she did just to annoy him. She was able to control just about anyone's mood if she were in control of her own mood and she was able to see through any disguise or false façade. Yet she still could not make a full functional replication of herself yet. Part of her wished she had just spoken to Loki that day on the heli-carrier. Although he probably would have just as soon kill her as speak to her.  
Catching her breath again and wiping the sweat from her brow she began to concentrate on making a replica of herself once again.

When Ella emerged from the shower she could hear the sounds of commotion coming from the floor below her. Something was going on. She threw on her jeans and a tank top and attempted to towel dry her mass of red hair before leaving the room to find out what was going on. She skipped down the stairs wondering what the hell Stark was up to this time and followed the voices in to the first of three living rooms on the ground floor. She stopped in her tracks when she saw Stark, Pepper, Phil Coulson, Thor and Jane Foster standing in the room.

"Hey!" Ella said, running to Phil and hugging him enthusiastically. He let her embrace him, looking more than a little uncomfortable. "What the hell Coulson! You come back from the dead and you can't even send an email, post card…"

"Owl," Stark interjected followed by a small slap to the back of the head and disapproving look from Pepper.

"I'm sorry about that," Phil stammered, shifting away from Ella's touch. "You remember Jane Foster and Thor?"

"Hard to forget either," Ella replied shaking Jane's hand. "Not that you and I have met, Jane, but I have heard a lot about you."

"LITTLE ONE!" Thor boomed, coming closer and patting Ella on the top of the head as gently as he could manage. "How are you?" Thor's words caused Stark to almost bark with laughter.

"Thor, I asked you not to call me that. My name is Ella, remember?"

"Of course I remember. You are just so …"

"TINY!" Stark almost shouted.

"Yes." Thor agreed.

"Just like your itty bitty man hood, Stark," Ella glared at him.

"She's been using magic outside of school headmaster!" Stark told Coulson, pointing accusingly at Ella. He started to back away slightly, recognizing the look in Ella's eyes. She was about to zap him.

Phil put his hand on Ella's shoulder. "Please don't Ella," he said calmly. "He's not worth it."

Ella shook her head giving Tony one final glare before turning back to Coulson. "Please tell me I can go back to HQ or the HUB or anywhere but here. It's not like Stark has been much help anyway!"

Phil smiled at her. "I was thinking about that actually. I was hoping you would join a smaller SHEILD team Fury has allowed me to put together. It would give us the time and space to hopefully figure you out. I can fill you in more later."

Ella nodded and looked back at Jane and Thor. "So what brings you all here? We're not going to have another battle are we? Your brother isn't causing any more mischief right?"

Thor instantly looked stricken at the mention of his brother. "Loki… is dead." There was a small tremble in his voice as he spoke. "He died helping save Jane and your world. Have you not heard about this?" He asked, trying to compose himself.

"That mess in England?" Ella asked. "I had no idea that had anything to do with you. And of course SHEILD hasn't let me out of here for much since Phil… well since he died." She didn't k now how else to put it.

Thor nodded.

Ella's brow furrowed as she felt inside herself for a moment. "You're sure Loki is dead?" She asked, mentally grabbing onto the distant vibration that had been with her since that day on the heli-carrier when Loki had zapped her as she was trying to get into his mind. When Loki had been taken back to Asgard, the feeling had lessened to the point that she could ignore the vibration for the most part, but it was still there, like a rubber band that had been stretched over many miles. She could still feel the vibration of his life force. If he were dead, there would be no feeling. It would have ended with is life.

"I disagree," Ella finally said looking directly at Thor. "Loki is still alive and I believe he is still on Asgard."

"Impossible!" Thor said disbelieving. "I held him as the life left his body."

"Thor you of all people should know that Loki can make you think or see whatever he wants." Ella argued.

"How can you be so sure," Phil asked, stepping closer to Ella and wondering if this conversation should be taken out of the room and away from everyone else.

Ella rolled her eyes and bit her lip as she met Coulson's gaze. "Well, when we were relocated from the SHEILD facility to the heli-carrier…"

"You mean when I expressly asked you to stay in your room and out of harm's way until the mission was over?" Phil asked folding his arms across his chest.

"Yeah… well I attempted to make contact with Loki, to find out more about my magic through his mind. Of course he immediately felt my presence and rejected my magic. He basically zapped me with his own magic. It was incredible intense and ever since I have been able to… I don't know, feel his vibration, or life force. I'm not sure how else to explain it."

"Ella!" Phil raised his voice slightly and grabbed onto her hand. "You could have been seriously hurt or killed!"

"Well, Loki wasn't alone when I attempted contact. There was another presence in his mind, a very dark presence. It was as if Loki was reaching out to me, and it was the other thing that seemed to want to hurt me."

"There was a theory that Loki was under the influence of the tesseract," Phil replied almost talking to himself instead of Ella.

"Whatever," Ella continued. "I still feel that life force. I'm telling you that Loki is still alive."


	3. Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ella and Thor have a nice Chat! :o)

________________________________________  
Chapter 3: Chapter 3 Revelation  
________________________________________

An hour later, everyone was sitting in the large kitchen at Stark Tower, munching on finger food that Pepper had graciously prepared. The glass table was littered with plates, food and glasses. Ella sat in a chair with her legs tucked under her picking at a quartered turkey and swiss sandwich wedge and pita chips. Pepper sat next to her watching Thor and Jane eat.

"So you really decided to leave Asgard to live on Earth with Jane?" Pepper asked still not quite believing the sacrifice.

"Of course." Thor's reply was as nonchalant as picking out what socks to wear on a cold day. "I choose to be here with her, would you not do the same for the one you love?"

"I'm not sure," Pepper replied eyeing Stark who was across the room pouring himself another drink. "You gave up an entire kingdom to come here. This place is not the stuff of fairy tales, but I'm sure you already know that. But that is what you left behind, a world worthy of fairy tales."

"We can return whenever we like," Thor replied chewing his sandwich with enthusiasm. "But I would always make the same decision if I had it to do all over again."

Jane smiled at him.

"Too much mush." Ella said dropping her pita chip onto her plate. "Lost my appetite."

Jane laughed and watched Ella take her plate to the sink.

"Where are you going, Muffin? Stark asked watching Ella put her plate down and start to walk away. "It's your turn to do dishes!"

"Seriously? You have a dozen housekeepers for these things Stark. I shouldn't have to do dishes!"

"You hate dishes, that's why you should have to do them," Stark replied giving her his sweetest smile.

Ella wasn't feeling up to bantering with Stark so instead of replying she rolled her eyes at him and walked back to the table, taking a seat next to Phil. "So, what's the deal?" Ella asked in a very low tone, not wanting her voice to carry over the rest of the conversation in the room.

"What do you mean?" Phil asked, looking at her innocently. She could tell by the look in his eyes he knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Don't play me Coulson. You know what I'm talking about. Fury told us you were dead. Being what I am and doing what I can do, I know he must have believed it at least when he told me. So then I find out you are alive and apparently well. You were the only friend I had at SHEILD, or anywhere else for that matter and you never once bother to give me the heads up? I'm sorry to sound hurt or whatever, but believe it or not, I more or less thought you cared about my feelings. There was no… 'hey I'm alive,' or 'screw you Dalton'! There was nothing from you!" She hadn't meant to raise her voice but after having a chance to think about it and having Phil right here in front of her now she knew Stark had been right to feel the way he had earlier about Phil's reappearance. Thought she would rather pull out her own eyeballs with a rusty spoon than admit that to Stark.

"Ella, you know better than that." Coulson smiled at her, his eyes twinkling as he spoke. "I would never call you by your last name."

She laughed not meaning to. "Damn it Coulson, I hate it when you do that to me. I never can stay mad at you, no matter how hard I may try or how much I may want to."

The smile faded from his lips as he heard the sincerity behind her words. "You know I can't tell you anything about it Ella. I'm sorry. A decision was made for the greater good of SHEILD. You know the drill. The most important thing at the time was the AVENGERS initiative. That's it."

Ella nodded. "Of course it was. Always the greater good of SHEILD. Whatever." She waved her hand as if to clear the air." I'm just glad you're still alive Coulson, but you have got to get me out of here. Stark and I are going to try to kill each other soon. I can feel it coming."

"Ouch! That stings Muffin!" Stark replied apparently eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Have you made any further discoveries regarding Ella's talents?" Phil asked Stark attempting to redirect the conversation.

"Well, not as far as the origin of her abilities. But the abilities themselves seem endless unless you ask her to clean up something." Tony sneered at Ella." So far we know she has the ability of telekinesis, she appears to be clairvoyant is some situations, she can definitely start random fires and she has the incredible ability of being a huge pain in the ass. She can almost duplicate herself, God forbid the day that happens, one of her is certainly enough. And last but not least she has a mood control button. Bruce helped me discover that little feature. It was an amazing experiment."

Ella wanted to hit him really hard for talking about her like one of his electronic gizmos he kept in the basement.

"Yeah, amazingly destructive and messy," Pepper corrected Stark.

"Banner let her work on him?" Phil asked. "How did you get close enough to touch the Hulk to calm him down?"

"I don't have to have physical contact anymore." Ella spoke quietly. She hated talking about all of the shit that made her a freak.

"Is there anything else?" Coulson asked, sensing Ella's discomfort with the topic. Everyone was listening to them now.

"She's a very talented which," Stark replied in a sing song voice. "But her biggest talent is being a bitch!" He laughed, extremely pleased with his joke.

Ella let it go, deciding to allow Stark to have his fun for now. She would get him back in a more subtle way later. Maybe she would lace one of his suits with red ants. "No one can figure out where it comes from though," she said to Phil. "It's great I have all this talent and can do all of this weird stuff, but why?"

"If I did not know better, Thor said rising from his seat and coming to stand next to Ella. He placed a large hand on her shoulder. "I would say you have been blessed with Asgardian magic."

Ella simply sighed looking back at Coulson who stared back knowingly. "So, you never did tell me, what you all are doing here. I understand why Phil is here, I think, but what about you two?" Ella was desperate to change the subject as she shifted her attention back to Thor and Jane.

"I wanted to make sure all of the Avengers were aware that Thor would be living on Earth for the foreseeable future and to inform everyone that Loki is no longer a threat," Coulson replied. "But if you think he is still alive…"

"I know he is," Ella said taking a deep breath. "But he isn't a threat, not to us anyway."

"How can you be so sure?" Thor asked, squatting down beside Ella so he could look into her eyes.

"Sure that he is alive or that he is not a risk to us? Ella asked simply.

"Alive." Thor responded quickly.

Ella thought about the question for a moment before taking Thor's hand from her shoulder and holding it between both of her own much smaller ones. "How long have you and Loki been brothers Thor?" She asked, gazing intently into the endless blue of his eyes.

"More than a thousand Earth years," He replied staring back at her not blinking.

"You were close?" Ella prodded him.

"Not always as close as I would have liked, but as children, we were very close, we shared everything." Thor responded, his voice was thick with the emotion of the memories, he found himself unable to look away from Ella's gaze. Her eyes were the same color as some of the most beautiful emeralds he had ever seen.

"If Loki were truly gone Thor and you were never going to see him again, there would be an undeniable emptiness in your soul, an emptiness that only your brother could fill. His place in your heart would truly be empty because he would be gone, not just from sight but gone from everything." The rest of the people in the room looked on, not quite understanding what was happening between Ella and Thor. If she had to try to explain it to them, she could not have done so. "Do you feel it Thor? Does that place in your heart that belongs only to Loki feel completely empty? Or can you feel the faint vibration that belongs to his life force, a life force that you know so well. It's that same vibration that we leave behind when we meet someone for the first time, our lasting impression, good or bad we always leave a piece of ourselves behind. I know that if I can feel your brother, you must be able to feel it too. You know him like no one else Thor. Do you really think Loki is dead?"

There was a long silence. It felt like everyone in the large kitchen had been holding their breath watching the Asgardian and listening to Ella's words.

Finally Thor broke eye contact with Ella. "She is right." He stood from his crouch next to her. "Loki is alive. I must return to Asgard, inform the All Father and find my brother."


	4. Purpose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ella makes a decision to help Thor.

________________________________________  
Chapter 4: Chapter 4 Purpose  
________________________________________

Ella walked out onto Stark's balcony, throwing herself into a chair and staring out across the city skyline. She loved this city. It was the first thing she really could remember about her childhood. The smell of the city and the way everything looks at night. That was her favorite time… night. Things were never really quiet, but at night, things seemed right. And all of the destruction that had been caused by the chitauri could not be seen. Up here it was even better. This was the only thing she didn't want to leave behind. This balcony had become her sanctuary while she had to stay with Stark and Pepper.

Ella closed her eyes and took a deep breath, the familiar scents bringing her comfort. She could not really remember much of her childhood. Her first memory was from when she was about 4 or 5. Was that normal? Probably not. Nothing about her was normal. Her mother had died when she was 8. At least she thought she was 8. So much time had passed it was hard to remember. She only remembered her mother's face because of the picture she kept in her bag, hidden away where no one else knew about it. She never knew her father. Her mother would not tell her about him but Ella got the feeling that he had died or gone far away.

"Well that was interesting." Phil said shutting the sliding glass doors behind him as he came out onto the balcony with Ella. He moved a chair closer to Ella's and sat watching her closely. "It seems like you've found out a lot about your abilities in my absence."

He reached over and took Ella's hand, sensing her frustration. He gave the hand a small tug and she turned her head to look at him. A strand of long fiery red hair fell across her eyes as she did.

"What?" she asked, no longer in the mood for conversation.

"Thor might be onto something," Phil replied pushing the strand of hair back out of her face.

"Meaning?" She was purposely being cryptic and Phil knew it.

"Maybe you are Asgardian." Coulson replied simply.

Ella took her hand away from his touch and shook her head.

"Don't dismiss the idea yet," Phil said, taking her hand again almost against her will. "Do they have any idea how old you are? Have any of the tests showed any sign of your true age?"

Ella shivered at the thought even though the air was warm. She hated thinking about her age. Finally she drew in a breath and spoke. "No, all of the tests, blood work and even my girly parts seem to be that of a healthy normal female between the ages of 18 and 21. Not too shabby for a girl approaching her fiftieth birthday huh?" Her voice was bitter and her eyes began to sting with tears.

Phil put an arm around her and pulled her closer to him, allowing her to cry. When he knew she was done, he allowed her to sit back in her own chair and wipe her tears away with the back of her hand.

"I'm so old!" She said with disgust when she was able to speak again. "I know 50 isn't really old, but when you look like I do and get treated the way I do, it makes me feel… gross! I get hit on by teenagers for Christ sake! I can't date because I'd feel like a freakin' pedophile! I'm just… old!"

"Yeah," Phil replied taking her hand again. He was glad their friendship had survived his absence. Her crying in his presence had proven that their friendship was indeed intact. "But you're pretty hot for being almost 50!"

"Bite me, Coulson." She smiled at him and gave his hand a grateful squeeze.

~~~~---~~~~~~~~

"Oh, hell no!" Ella shrieked at Thor who stood looking down at her disapprovingly. "I have no interest in Bi-frosting my happy ass to a rainbow bridge in Asgard to go in front of the ALL FATHER to inform him that his son, THE GOD OF MISCHIEF, is still alive. He's your dad right? You're his son, he will listen to you!" Ella's voice was on the verge of hysterical as she finished speaking.

Thor put his hands on her shoulders as if he thought she might just take flight in her hysteria. "It is not enough for me to say it, Little One. The All Father must see it, the way you helped me to see. I cannot do what you did. You MUST go with us to Asgard.

Ella tried to back away from Thor, but he had cornered her on the balcony where she had been talking with Coulson. Her retreat was cut short by the wall of glass at her back .

"I don't think this is a good idea," Coulson said getting up from his chair and stepping forward protectively between Ella and Thor.

"She can feel Loki's life force, Son Of Coul. She can help us find him if he is truly on Asgard." Thor pleaded but still took a step back from the much smaller man.

"Even I'm not down with Muffin leaving," Stark replied watching from the glass door. "Especially if it has anything to do with Loki. I've ridden that crazy train, it wasn't a blast."

"Loki isn't the issue," Ella said softly. "He isn't a threat. I just don't want to end up stuck in a place like Asgard with the gods and goddesses, beautiful… TALL people are not going to do much for my self esteem. It's bad enough that everyone here is taller than me. There they are all like him!" She pointed to Thor as if that made her point. "There, Loki's ant-boot analogy will have a whole new meaning for me. I'm pretty sure Thor poops bigger than me."

Stark laughed, unable to control himself.

"I do not think that is even close to accurate." Thor replied seriously.

Ella wasn't sure what part of what she had said Thor was disagreeing with, at that moment she didn't care.

"I agree with Ella, she'll get lost over there," Stark replied when he was able to get his laughter under control.

Coulson put his hand against Ella's back in a protective gesture. I'm not comfortable with her leaving Thor. I really don't think this is the answer."

"I promise she will be safe at all times. She will be under my protection and no one will touch her. All I need is for her to help Odin see, the way she helped me to see, and if Loki remains on Asgard, she can assist by pointing me in the right direction. My men and I will take it from there and Ella will remain in the protective walls of the palace. Once I find my brother, I will return her to Midgard safe and sound, you have my word."

"Yeah… it's the AFTER you find Loki part that bothers me Point Break. I say if Loki wants everyone to think he's dead , let him have fun with that. I'm good with it." Stark stated firmly.

Ella was shocked that he would even care if she went with Thor or if Loki decided to skewer her with his glow stick of destiny that Stark is always talking about. In fact Ella thought, he almost sounded sincere.

"Stark, really, Loki isn't a threat." Ella replied nudging him with her shoulder. He had come closer to the group as the discussion had progressed.

"If my brother still lives, I need to find him. And our father needs to know he mourns unnecessarily. My father and I need to fix the wrong that was done to Loki. Ella can help me with this, she is the only one who can." Thor replied watching her, pleading with his eyes.

At Thor's words Ella moved forward away from the protective stances of both Coulson and Stark. "I've changed my mind. I want to help Thor." She smiled over her shoulder at Phil. "You know I have always wanted to be more than just one of SHIELDs assets Phil. Ok, so I will never be an Avenger, but even a field agent is better than what I am now. This is my chance to prove that I am something more."

"Damn it," Phil sighed defeated. "You had to put it like that didn't you big guy." Phil eyed Thor still not completely comfortable with the situation.

"I will go with you to Asgard Thor. I will help you make Odin see Loki is still alive and I will do what I can to help you find your brother."

"Fury really isn't going to like this," Coulson replied trying one last ditch effort to change her mind.

"Fury can suck it!" Ella shot back. "This is pay back for having my ass with a babysitter instead of in training! I had to beg Romanoff to give me the very basic training in hand to hand combat and hand guns."

"You shoot guns now?" Phil asked slightly taken aback by her demeanor.

"Yeah, I do!" Ella turned on him "And Barton taught me how to shoot a bow, and I'm really good."

"She is," Stark agreed. "She tried to use me for target practice more than once while I was in the suit trying to rebuild the tower. She wanted me to teach her to fly, but I figured she already had the broom and knew how to ride it, she didn't need the suit!"

Ella laughed despite her anger at the situation. Some of the things Stark said were off color but really funny, even when they were directed at her. "It's settled Coulson," she said finally, approaching him again. She touched his arm lightly. "I promise to be careful. But I am going to Asgard with Thor."


End file.
